Hard ground

Asked March 24, 2017, 9:58 AM EDT

Hello,

I'm looking for some suggestion to soften up hard ground. My home is in Westminster, near Standley Lake and apparently the river used to run through our neighborhood, leaving behind very compacted ground that does not take to seed or watering very much. I had someone come to aerate the lawn last fall but their machine did very little, sinking in maybe a quarter of an inch at most. Short of scraping and replacing 6" with topsoil, is there anything I can add to the ground to help soften it up? Even something that may take a few years and a few applications? Thanks for any help!

2 Responses

I'm assuming you are interested in amending bare ground. If that is correct then I suggest you incorporate 3-6 cubic yards of compost per 1000 ft sq. as deeply as possible by rototilling. If you are trying to amend a lawn than you would also use compost but no more than 1.5 cubic yards per 1000 ft sq. and apply it after aeration. To pull deep aeration plugs you must water the lawn well 2 days before aeration.